Make a Gift Supporting Every Houston Zoo Animal

At the Houston Zoo, our animal ambassadors inspire us all to save wildlife. That’s why they deserve the best care possible. From daily diets to tasty treats, delivering proper animal nutrition is essential. Give our animals the Gift of Grub this holiday season and every dollar of your contribution will support our animal care program!

Your Gift Could be DOUBLED by TXU Energy

Our partner, TXU Energy, is generously matching every contribution, up to $50,000, until December 31st. That means a tax-deductible gift of $50 is worth $100. Double the grub goodness you could provide our animals by taking advantage of this generous matching gift challenge!

A Note From Phyllis, Animal Nutrition Manager

The sun isn’t even up yet, but we’re ready to get to work. It’s a new day at the Houston Zoo, so it’s time for the Animal Nutrition team to start preparing meals.

We begin at 5 a.m. For the next four hours, my team is weighing, chopping, steaming, and packing meals. Using detailed diet sheets and cookbooks, we serve the needs of more than 6,000 animals. As you can imagine, we go through a lot of grub!

After we pack the meals, my team starts making deliveries around the Zoo. We take turns doing deliveries and other tasks, so everyone on the team can fill in for any position. This keeps us prepared for situations that could impact our work. I remember hunkering down here for days when Hurricane Ike hit. Even when the going gets tough, we need to care for our animals.

As food costs go up and our animal family grows, I’ll be so grateful to receive your Gift of Grub contribution this holiday season!

Warm wishes,

Phyllis Pietrucha-Mays
Animal Nutrition Manager

See what your gift could do for our animals!

Phoenix the Komodo Dragon

Komodo dragons can weigh up to 170 pounds but at just over a
year old, Phoenix weighs less than ten. He’s got a lot of growing
to do!

A gift of $50 could buy six dozen eggs for our reptiles.

Olive & Rio, Giant Anteaters

Baby Rio and mom Olive are spending lots of quality time
together as Rio hitches rides around their habitat!

A gift of $100 could buy almost 90 pounds of nutritious insectivore pellets for our giant anteaters.

Berani the Malayan Tiger

Three-year-old Berani moved to our Zoo in early 2016. He’s an amazing ambassador for this critically endangered species!

A gift of $250 could buy nearly 230 pounds of bones for our Malayan tigers to chomp and chew.

Kamia & TJ, California Sea Lions

Born in June, TJ is zipping around the pool now that mom Kamia has taught her how to swim!

A gift of $500 could buy 500 pounds of sustainably-sourced fish for our California sea lions.